Page:The English Peasant.djvu/378

 it is not fit that he should live." The Bohemian people, who had also understood its import, uttered a cry of indignation, and their great general, John Zizka, resolved to avenge their martyr.

The enthusiasm of the Bohemian peasants who flocked to his banner was so intense that the learned of the time could find no better explanation for the phenomenon than a conjunction of the stars. It soon appeared, however, to be no question of astrology, but the piled-up force of the Christian conscience, suddenly delivered by Wiclif's doctrine, seeking to sweep out of Bohemia the falsehoods of feudalism. In a little time, therefore, the war became a civil one, and, under the names of Utraquists and Taborites, was opened up the old strife between the oppressors and the oppressed.

To the wonderful camp on Mount Tabor the peasants came in thousands, bringing with them in great waggons their aged parents, their wives and children, and all their household goods. They believed that a new era was about to open, in which there would be no more crimes nor abominations, no more lies nor perfidies, where there would no longer be different ranks or dignities among men, where property would be abolished, and the human race delivered for ever from work, misery, and hunger; where the difference between the learned and the ignorant would cease, for all would equally be disciples of the Saviour, and the Eternal Truth would shine upon all; where the wicked would repent of their wickedness, so that the Bible and the Atonement would no longer be necessary, since all mankind would be saved.

It would be difficult to exceed the thoroughness of the doctrine of equality as held by the Taborites. It far exceeded that of the later French revolutionists, for it taught that a woman was equal to a man. Grace elevated all to the same level. The movement was so universal that the wealthy classes were in dismay. In 1421 the Commune of Prague, under their leader, John of Zelew, obtained a majority in the city council. "Noble city of Prague," wrote a chronicler, "it was not the lower classes who formerly governed thee. Now the citizens, the best known by their birth, their riches, and their virtues, are put to death or exiled, while tailors, shoemakers, working men of all kinds, fill the